Sound Systems For Golf Sim and Home Theater

[Uk101jkt]

Im just finally putting all the pieces together for my simulator build and now looking at sound systems. I want the whole thing to be dual use with a home theater (actually the trade off with the wife was also agreeing to a karaoke system so if advice on that please go ahead) and im curious how people have done sound systems. Seems like the best systems use soundbars and speakers that would be next to or above the screen. This seems like a bad idea as they may get hit by a ball so I presume that ceiling speakers are the way to go but is that a trade off in terms of surround sound quality?

Would i also need a separate receiver or amp or can the speakers just be run directly from a laptop? Anyway to also tie all this in to alexa or google home without spending a fortune on a Sonos system?

[Kmurray]

I use a Yamaha Home Cinema Receiver with a Wharfedale 5.1 Speaker set up. The centre channel and front left and right are mounted on the wall at high level directly behind the screen. I have about a foot of clearance between the screen and the wall the speakers are mounted on so no chance of hitting the speakers with stray shots.

I don't hear any degradation in sound because the speakers are behind the screens and I have x 2 archery screens as backing and then a direct from the mill screen on top of them so 3 layers of screens.

All controlled with a Logitech Harmony universal remote ....we watch tv and movies, Netflix etc on ours and it sounds great ...very happy with the sound quality....don't think you would get a good quality sound from a standard sort of laptop , perhaps from a pc with a decent sound card .

[ganders75]

Almost carbon copy here. YAMAHA RX-675 I think. Picked it up cheap from a mate, so it's a little dated, but perfect for my use. Check ebay, you can get cheaper models without hdr for peanuts these days...

[sulli182]

I use a Denon 2500 receiver and Origin Audio in ceiling 8" speakers... I have the ceiling speakers 6ft from the wall so they are out past the baffled ceiling protection... The 2500 is awesome because it has dual HDMI outs... I have one going to my TV on the wall and one going to the projector... It also has multi zone audio and HEOS, which is Denons Sonos competitor... I use zone 1 for in ceiling 5.1 system and zone 2 as a 2 channel system that I have bookshelf speakers attached to by my Computer playing the HEOS music from an app... HEOS is awesome, I have 3 receivers thoughout the house with 4 other zones...

[Uk101jkt]

This sounds fantastic. Unfortunately maybe a bit out of my budget right now as ive spent everything on the build but definitely something to get in the future.

[bongta029]

I currently use my room as golf simulator and movie theatre. I have LG sk10y sound bar with rear speakers. I put the bar on Ikea TV stand on top of the superslider furniture mover pads. I normally put it to the side when I'm golfing and just move it in front of the screen when i watch movies. It works pretty well for my purpose.

[jc523]

I went with a polk soundbar and subwoofer that has amazon alexa built-in, as voice control was a must.

https://www.polkaudio.com/products/command-sound-bar

I have HDMI out from my laptop to the soundbar, then the soundbar HDMI out to my projector.
The 2nd HDMI out from my laptop goes directly to my ceiling mounted TV for watching golf and eventually swing analysis video. From the laptop I direct all of the sound to the soundbar/projector.

[BGCurtis2nd]

I use the VIZIO - SmartCast 5.1 Channel Sound Bar System with 5-1/4" Wireless Subwoofer, $228.00 at Wal-Mart. I mounted the soundbar above my screen and behind the netting, at a bit of an angle so it faces downward, hard to see but inside (yellow circle), and I ran the wires on top of my netting (red arrow), bass and satellites are on the back wall. Sounds great to me, the wife and I watch movies and some broadcast programming and it is great surround a sound, dogs will bark at it thinking someone is out side the room. Golf in 4K on the big screen really makes you feel as if you are there. {Not true 4K on the projector but video off the 4K with the 4K sim does show a big different to 1080P or at least it seems that way to me.}

[BGCurtis2nd]

Sound connects off projector.

[jc523]

so it sounds like you have it connected:
laptop --> projector --> soundbar.
mine is connected:
laptop --> soundbar --> projector . that way I can still get sound to the speakers if I don't have the projector turned on

[BGCurtis2nd]

jc523 I went straight off the projector for sound, I have my computer and Directv running to the projector via HDMI.